More signs of Spring...

Well after that gloomy post I thought I would share some of the other flowers that are currently blooming in our garden. Every year I know that Spring is on it's way when or camellia bush and our rhododendron start to bloom. The camellia bush has been here for over 30+ years and maybe even 50+. The rhododendron is also very old. You can see in the pictures how tall thecamellia bush is as it is as tall as our house. The rhododendron is not as large but that is merely do some pruning done a year or so ago. You can also see that the camellia bush has both pink and white flowers. We're not sure what colour the bush started out as but because of the pibk flowers we occasionally get pink stripes in the white blooms.

All is well here and I have seen the local doctor. He has suggested that it would be better if I schedule the surgeries to occur in Sydney as it will be some time before I can get in to see the neurosurgeon here at home. I'll write to my doctor in Sydney today so he can hopefully get the process started in there and then I just have to wait until a spot opens up. I may have posted pjotos of these bushes before but it never hurts to see them again. Anyway, I hope the flower photos brighten your day as much as they do mine. Enjoy....

Spring is in the air...

Amongst all the doom and gloom in my life, I'm glad to say that there is a little bit of sunshine breaking through. I took these photos of the first spring bulbs starting to bloom. Since our winter is basically mild, compared to those in the Northern Hemisphere, a lot of things that go to sleep in the winter wake up a bit earlier. So as you can see in the pictures, the rose bush is still asleep, as are the rest of them in the garden, but these lovely little daffodils have just started to bloom. In the background you can also see a lone jonquil that has popped up. There are more starting to build buds and I reckon they will be out in another week or so. All over the rest of our garden there are bunches of daffodils and jonquils that are starting to pop up and will also be in bloom in the coming weeks. The only other bulbs that have yet to make an appearance are the tulips but we usually don't see them until late September early October. So I say bring on Spring and enjoy the sunshine. Enjoy...

The daffodil laughs at the mighty rose that is afraid to come out of hibernation. If you look close, you can also see the lone jonquil in the back.

A closer look at these little rays of sun shine

Just another view

A close up of the brave little jonquil.

Pictures as promised...

So here are some pictures as promised from the last post. I'll only put a few here and the rest will be on my flickr site here. Enjoy...

Spring is here...

The Rhododendron bush which is at least 50 years old.



A close up...



Some of the hundreds of grape hyacinths in the yard.



The two daffodils that have so far popped up. There are more but they are apparently slow to come to the party.

Countdown ends and here's the big surprise....

0...

Ignition......

Blastoff.........

Houston we have lift-off. Happy autumnal/autumn equinox to my readers in the southern hemisphere, from which I'm writing this post, and happy vernal/spring equinox to my readers (especially to my family) in the northern hemisphere. Okay, okay so the big countdown wasn't that big of a surprises but many of you know as well as I do just how bloody hard it can be to find something to post. For those of you that have prolific minds when it comes to post writing you have my envy and respect. As for those of you who made guesses as to what the surprise was, I say well done to those of you who either picked it spot on or came close. It was never my intention to make this a guessing game but it was an added bonus that I suppose was inevitable as people can be curious.

Anyway, lets get back to the topic. As your days start to get longer and your nights shorter my days are now getting just the opposite. It took me a long time to get used to this reversal, but have now come to think of it as quite normal for where I am. I still enjoy what autumn means to me with the fall colours and cool nights and warmish days. Here in Australia I've not seen a lot of decorations with Indian corn and pumpkins, gourds or both. I believe the reason autumn is not a major focus here as it is in the northern hemisphere is simply because there is very little change in many places in Australia. Albeit everyone knows summer is over and winter is on it's way, winter is not something that fully felt unless you live here in Tasmania or in the Snowy mountains. but then again it's all purely relative. because if you live in Darwin and the weather goes down to say 15 degrees (59F) compared to 35 degrees (95F) you think it's cold. Sydney-siders get all rugged up (coats, scarves and gloves) this time of year on days of 13-15 degrees (55-59F) The display windows in the shops here are usually filled with colourful fall leaves and for me that is enough. On top of that Christmas in July is not far away. In the states it may mean a sale at the local mall here it literally means Christmas in July because it's winter and in some places there is snow and the holiday can be celebrated in full northern hemisphere fashion. However hearing Frosty the Snowman in the middle of July can still be a bit off-putting for me but I'm working on it.

I used to think of this time as a time of new beginnings and special moments. This was a time that as a child I went back to school and holidays like Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas were right around the corner. It was also a time that my birthday came around so you see there was a lot going around for me as a child. Now when autumn comes around for me I still get that feeling but there are no holidays to follow let alone birthdays, or at least not within the next few months. Even still I feel the same as I did back then, to me autumn was and is something much more, for me it was a time of refueling. A time when my mind clears with the crisp clean air and my mind awakens to artistic thoughts as the leaves perform their changing of the colour guard so to speak. Autumn has always been for me that way and it always will.

So as I sit here and enjoy this very special time of the year. I hope that you will also be enjoying it, whether it is with cool crisp nights, warm fluffy doonas (comforters for my friends in the north) and leaves changing colours or be it warming spring nights, daffodils blooming and promises of sunny summer days not far away. Either way it seems to be a time of renewal. Some of us see the flowers blooming in spring and feel reborn but for me it will always be the changing in the leaves that brings the birth of my inner self. To each of you I say, Enjoy...

( I hope you weren't too disappointed in the big surprise. I at least got your attention and now that I've got it out of the way I've got lots to tell you, but that will have to wait until tomorrow)

As an added bonus here are a few interesting factoids about the equinox:

In the list below the terms March and September equinoxes are used when the celebration is fixed in time, while the terms spring and autumn equinoxes refer to those which are different in the two hemispheres.

* Sham El Nessim was an ancient Egyptian holiday which can be traced back as far as 2700 B.C. It is still one of the public holidays in Egypt. It occurs on Monday and coincided with the vernal equinox.

* The calculation of Easter in the Christian church (first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the March equinox), uses its own definition for the equinox — it always falls on March 21. The earliest possible Easter date in any year is therefore March 22.

* The March Equinox marks the first day of various calendars including the Iranian calendar and the Bahá'í calendar. The Persian (Iranian) festival of Nowruz is celebrated then. According to the ancient Persian mythology Jamshid, the mythological king of Persia, ascended to the throne on this day and each year this is commemorated with festivities for two weeks. These festivities recall the story of creation and the ancient cosmology of Iranian and Persian people. It is also a holiday for Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, India, Turkey, Zanzibar, Albania, and various countries of Central Asia, as well as among the Kurds. As well as being a Zoroastrian holiday, it is also a holy day for adherents of the Bahá'í Faith, and the Nizari Ismaili Muslims, commonly known as the Aga Khanis.

* The September Equinox marks the first day of Mehr or Libra in the Iranian calendar. It is one of the Iranian festivals called Jashne Mihragan, or the festival of sharing or love in Zoroastrianism.

* The spring equinox marks the Wiccan Sabbat of Ostara (or Eostar), while at the autumn equinox the Wiccan Sabbat of Mabon is celebrated.

* In Japan, (March) Vernal Equinox Day (春分の日 Shunbun no hi) is an official national holiday, and is spent visiting family graves and holding family reunions. Similarly, in September, there is an Autumnal Equinox Day (秋分の日 Shūbun no hi).

* Tamil and Bengali New Years follow the Hindu zodiac and are celebrated according to the sidereal vernal equinox (14 April). The former is celebrated in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, and the latter in Bangladesh and the East Indian state of West Bengal.

* Earth Day was initially celebrated on March 21, 1970, the equinox day. It is currently celebrated in various countries on April 22.

* In many Arab countries, Mother's Day is celebrated on the March equinox.

* The September equinox was "New Year's Day" in the French Republican Calendar, which was in use from 1793 to 1805. The French First Republic was proclaimed and the French monarchy was abolished on September 21, 1792, making the following day the equinox day that year, the first day of the "Republican Era" in France. The start of every year was to be determined by astronomical calculation, (that is: following the real Sun and not the mean Sun as all other calendars).

* The harvest festival in the United Kingdom is celebrated on the Sunday of the full moon closest to the September equinox.

* The Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, and is an official holiday in many East Asian countries. As the lunar calendar is not synchronous with the Gregorian calendar, this date could be anywhere from mid-September to early October.

* World Storytelling Day is a global celebration of the art of oral storytelling, celebrated every year on the spring equinox in the northern hemisphere, the first day of autumn equinox in the southern.

Factoids source: Wikipedia

Tiptoe through the tulips

We have lived here in Tasmania for three years and each year we always say we are going to go to the Spring Tulip Festival and each year we have been out of town, however this year we finally made it. The festival is held at the Royal Botanic Gardens here in Hobart. We think that Hobart has the best botanic gardens of any gardens in the country. Spring is definitely trying to take hold here down under but not unlike the northern hemisphere spring is struggling to take that hold from old man winter. The festival is a sure sign that spring is winning. Anyway, you can see all the photos here. We also took a few extra photos of flowers in the conservatory and also some of the azaleas that are blooming in the gardens. Enjoy...

...and we're back

We actually got back Wednesday night, but I've been lazy with posting as usual. Anyway, we had a very nice time visiting an old friend. The weather was on our side until we got to Brisbane for the last night and it started to rain. We won't complain because that area of the country, along with a lot of Australia needs rain desperately. As mentioned in previous post we did stay at the Conrad Treasury hotel & Casino. The room was gorgeous. As for the casino we didn't do so well, but we always go into the casino with the understanding that we will probably loose and if we do win that's just extra. We don't go out a lot any more, preferring to be homebodies so we like to go to the casinos every so often for a bit of bells, lights colour and movement. Those of you that have played the machines will know what I mean.

So, back at home and we have already been busy. I had my second set of acupuncture and this time it did not hurt half as bad as last time. I still don't know if it is actually helping but will give it a few more weeks and then decide. on that same note I have a neurologist appointment at the end of November to review the neuropathy situation in my feet especially because I think it's spread which is not uncommon. I'm just afraid that at some point I'm going to have to start walking with a cane. Not that walking with a cane is a bad thing, apologies to those that do. I just know that if I have to start using a cane it will me that the neuropathy is getting the best of me.

We have also had two landscapers out to give us a quote on fixing up our back yard. We have a third one coming out on Monday and from there we will decide if it is doable. On the same note we have a builder in looking at removing some old doors and windows at the back of our house and replacing them as well as rearranging our kitchen area a bit and replacing the old deck with a new one. So it's all happening around here. That's what Spring will do for you. And yes I said Spring as the official start of Spring was the first of September here in the land down under. Also, since it's Spring and all of this remodelling is occurring I guess I'll change the feel of the blog to reflect a more colourful mood. So look forward to that coming soon